Pres. Biden’s Supreme Court Pick

There has been criticism from the usual suspects regarding President Joe Biden’s declared intention to choose a Black woman for the U.S. Supreme Court seat to fill that of Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced his imminent retirement last week.

We’d like to make two comments:

First, there are thousands of lawyers, of all races, ethnicities, and genders, who are qualified to be a Supreme Court judge. Statements such as those by U.S. Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi that the selection of a Black woman constitutes “affirmative racial discrimination” are both absurd and offensive.

Second, we firmly believe that every institution in our democracy should reflect the diverse make-up of our country. It is axiomatic that the only way that the three branches of our government can be truly representative of our citizenry is to be composed of those who bring the unique life experience of every American to that institution.

We applaud Joe Biden’s commitment to broaden the breadth of our nation’s highest court by appointing a Black woman for the first time in the court’s history.

We look forward to the perspective that she will bring to the highest court in the land in this, the third decade of the 21st century, bringing us another step closer to fulfilling the promise of the words written in the Declaration of Independence 246 years ago.